Transmission trouble - auto - 98 Taurus

[wayacoyote]

Our 98 Taurus is having transmission trouble. From park, we put in in Drive. It doesn't seem to have shifted. We have to rev the engine to 4000 RPM's to get it to start creaping forward. Our regular mechanic changed the fluid and filter (old car, recently purchased) which was very dirty he said. He added a cleaning agent hoping it would flush out any grime and told us that the code said that a certan valve wasn't operating (perhaps due to grime). His idea was that, if this worked, it would be a cheap fix. If not, well, we tried.

A month later, we're still reving to get it to creap. Once it gets to 3rd gear, it shifts to Over Drive just fine, but anything below driving 40 mph, and we have to keep it accelerating or rev to get it back into 3rd.

Are we beating a dying horse? When we go to a mechanic, what should he tell us is wrong?

Thanks

[beemused]

Having had a Taurus of the same era, I can tell you what I have found from experience and other mechanics. The tansmissions in the Taurus at least the years around yours will rarely last past 120000 miles. There is nothing I know of that can extend the life past this mileage except luck. A new one will set you back $2500 or so and my car at least was not worth the expense even though we got it new and knew the history.

Too bad because we liked our Taurus but didn't love it enough for the expense.

Bruce

[Eaglerock]

It is the clutch slipping or your screen filter might need to be cleaned. My daughter had a problem like that and I took it to a friend that rebuilds them and he had it up on the lift and done in about an hour and a half. And that was with us talking and his phone calls. It was just her screen and he flushed it and put new fluid in it.

[Bodo]

Sounds like a transmission shift solenoid, according to the code that you mentioned. It's not a terribly expensive fix.

[Sundance]

Good suggestion Bodo....... that's my thoughts as well.

Waya, do you have a Vo-Tech in the area? It may be
worth a call to see if the trany section is coming up. I
use the one here quite a bit. They do a swell job for
little $$. Got my Bobcat gone through last year and
the trany in my flatbed rebuilt as well.

[Ruben]

Taurus transmission were very bad for failing on those year models. There were several design flaws and it was not uncommon to see total failure at 70,000 miles. Your shop could check the line pressures and that will give a better idea of what is going on. Most likely though the answer to your question is yes you are probably beating a dead horse. Sorry

[wayacoyote]

Thanks for the feedback. We've taken it in to have the solenoid(s) replaced. We'll see how that goes. Thanks for the help and comments.